Manual transmission shifter to ignition interlock

Abstract

A floor mounted manually operable shifter assembly for use with a vehicle manual transmission having a gear shifter selectively pivotal to a plurality of positions about longitudinal and transverse axes. The gear shifter assembly base has a pivotally mounted bellcrank lever, including an upstanding first arm and a rearwardly extending dish-shaped second arm, defining an upwardly concave semi-spherical raceway formed with a reverse gear position notch. An end fitting, pivoted on the shifter lower end, is adapted to apply a clockwise pivoting force on the raceway during the shifter's rearward travel which force overrides an interlock cable core counter-clockwise biasing force on the bellcrank lever. During the end fitting's forward travel on the raceway the cable core biases the raceway into counterclockwise sliding contact with the end fitting. Upon the fitting being captured in the reverse gear notch, the bellcrank is at its forward limit position wherein rotation of an ignition lock cylinder to its key-release Lock mode results in the cable core locking the bellcrank lever, whereby the shifter end fitting is held in the reverse gear notch allowing the vehicle to be driven only in reverse gear.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An anti-theft gear shifter arrangement for a vehicle manual transmission comprising: a shifter assembly including a base and an upper support, a shifter pivoted on said support for movement to drive and reverse gear positions, a bellcrank lever pivoted on said base for forward and aft movement about a transverse axis, said lever including an upstanding first arm and an aft extending second arm defining an upwardly facing semi-spherical raceway formed with a reverse gear position notch; and   a key cylinder and interlock assembly arranged near said shifter, said cylinder being movable by a key between a key-retain non-Lock position and a key-release Lock position, a cable core having one end connected to a resiliently-biased interlock slider and its other end connected to an upper end of said first arm, and a runner on a lower end of said shifter;   whereby, with said cylinder in its non-Lock position, said runner adapted for longitudinal and transverse sliding travel on said raceway in response to said shifter being pivoted between a plurality of forward and reverse gear positions, during aft runner travel said core extending against said slider bias in response to said second arm being pivoted downwardly by said runner, and whereby during forward runner travel said core biases said first arm forwardly thereby maintaining said raceway in contact with said runner; and   upon said shifter being shifted into said reverse gear position said runner is captured in said reverse notch and said core biases said first arm to a forward limit position such that, upon said cylinder being moved to its key-release Lock position, said runner is locked in said notch thereby preventing movement of said shifter, whereby the vehicle may be driven only in reverse gear.   
     
     
       2. The gear shifter arrangement as set forth in claim 1 wherein said shifter is pivoted on said support for rotation about longitudinal and transverse shifter axes, and wherein said bellcrank transverse axis is positioned orthogonal to said shifter longitudinal axis. 
     
     
       3. The anti-theft gear shifter arrangement as set forth in claim 2 wherein said bellcrank lever transverse pivot axis is positioned a predetermined dimension forward of said shifter transverse axis. 
     
     
       4. The anti-theft gear shifter arrangement as set forth in claim 2 wherein said semi-spherical raceway has a first radius of curvature in a longitudinal direction, determined by the runner path upon said gear shifter being rotated about its transverse pivot axis, and a second radius of curvature in the transverse direction, determined by the runner path upon said gear shifter being rotated about its longitudinal pivot axis. 
     
     
       5. The anti-theft gear shifter arrangement as set forth in claim 2 wherein said shifter assembly is a cable shifter assembly and said shifter lower end runner is a cable end fitting, and a longitudinally extending shift cable is adapted for interconnecting said shifter cable end fitting with a manual transmission. 
     
     
       6. The anti-theft gear shifter arrangement as set forth in claim 5 wherein said bellcrank forward and aft limit positions are defined by the respective forward and aft travel of said shifter cable. 
     
     
       7. The anti-theft gear shifter arrangement as set forth in claim 1 wherein said raceway reverse gear notch, in longitudinal section, is in the form of an L-section obtuse angle notch including angularly disposed forward and aft planar ramp portions. 
     
     
       8. The anti-theft gear shifter arrangement as set forth in claim 7 wherein said obtuse angle is of the order of 120 degrees. 
     
     
       9. The anti-theft gear shifter arrangement as set forth in claim 1 wherein said reverse gear position notch is positioned adjacent to and aft of said bellcrank transverse axis. 
     
     
       10. The anti-theft gear shifter arrangement as set forth in claim 1 wherein said key cylinder and interlock mechanism assembly is mounted on the vehicle steering column.